Katrina: Federal Response now rejected by 36 governors?

[Melensdad]

I found something very interesting.

President Bush took all sorts of flack from people for not sending in the Army/National Guard quick enough to suit the needs of the folks in New Orleans, Biloxi & Mobile. There was univeral hand wringing by many liberal groups, much of the press, etc and all were blaming President Bush. The call seemed pretty universal, but perhaps I misunderstood the call, but it seemed like the call was for the military to come in with aid. Am I correct?

The reason I bring this up is because President Bush asked the Governors over the weekend if we should mobilize the military to have them take charge of disaster rescue and recovery and of the 38 Governors who answered him, 36 responded that the federal government should NOT send in the military under federal order.

Now I admit to NOT knowing the details. I don't know exactly what was proposed. I don't know which governors responded, let alone which responded to the negative, nor do I know which governors did not respond at all. I was listening to a music radio station out of Chicago and it was a 30 second news story at the top of the hour. So if I got the story wrong I'd love to hear the rest of it.

However on the other website, it seems like there were several thread closed down when folks like me suggested that the blame in New Orleans started with the Mayor, then moved up to the Parish officials, then up to the Governor and all were more to blame than President Bush.

Just curious how we can have it both ways? Blame the President when he follows federal law and does not send in the troops without invitation, and then reject his suggestion to federalize future relief

 

[OkeeDon]

...perhaps I misunderstood the call, but it seemed like the call was for the military to come in with aid. Am I correct?

No, I don't think so. I don't recall the military (the regular military, not the National Guard) being part of the discussion. It's pretty well known that the regular military resists, with good reasons, being assigned to domestic duty or routine police work. The National Guard, on the other hand, is routinely used for such situations. I don't think the criticism against Bush had anything to do with the military.

What it did involve is a little more complicated. First, there was the fact that he was in Crawford, TX, and pretty much ignored the controversy for the first 3 days or so. Cheney was also on vacation. The controversy that Bush ignored centered around the fumbling and incompetency of FEMA, especially the former director Brown. FEMA's funblings were so bad that even Republican House members were outraged; we could go into all that in another thread. The bottom line for Bush was that after 3 days, someone suggested he ought to look like he was at least a little bit concerned, so he flew back to DC a couple of days early. When he got there, he expressed confidence in Brown and FEMA. Brown was his appointee; Harry Truman established the precedent that the Buck Stops Here; in other words, that the President takes responsibility for his decisions. Bush tried to duck.

It got worse; Chertoff (Homeland Security) also made some pretty stupid and incompetent statements, and Bush continued to back him. Condi Rice came home from shopping in New York and made a trip to her native Alabama (or Mississippi; I can't remember and it's not important), where she also played out the party line that FEMA and others were doing all they could.

When George W Bush was running for President the first time, back in 2000, he was frequently criticized and often questioned about his competency and his ability to manage. His reply on at least one occasion; "I'll have people for that." Well, his people are largely political hack appointees who couldn't direct their way out of a paper bag. When I heard him make that statement back in 2000 I laughed because I figured he was so dumb he wouldn't know if he got good people or not; my feelings definitely came true. I honestly cannot think of even one decision in any department that was the best for the nation.

But, back to the subject. The Mayor of New Orleans, the officials of the various Parishes and the Governor all deserved, and have received, their fair share of criticism. What really pisses me off is the blind-faith worshipers of his holiness George W. Bush who will try to pass off blame to anyone else, but can never accept that their pipsqueak hero has ever made a bad decision.

He approved the appointment of A#1 First Class Assholes to important positions. That's all anyone needs to know as far as his blame is concerned.

Now, I didn't set FEMA's role. The Mayor of New Orleans, the Parish officials and Governor Blanco didn't establish FEMA's role. Nope, FEMA's role was established by those pseudo-conservative jerks who claim they're for smaller government, but expand the role of organizations like FEMA, while cutting the very source of revenue that makes it possible, and appointing assholes to lead the agencies. Bush is the leader of that administration, and the folks who voted for Bush are responsible for the crap.

 

[Junkman]

Remember 9/11????? How long did Bush sit in the classroom with the children until he felt that it was time to get back to work as the President of the United States? Refresh you memory here........